A surprise pitcher of the spring so far hasn’t been any of the known starters, or even a member of the Padres dominant bullpen. Left-handed starter Jackson Wolf, who pitched for El Paso and San Antonio in 2025 with a combined ERA of 5.04, has appeared in five games and seven innings pitched with a 2.57 ERA and four strikeouts. The 26-year-old had a cameo appearance with the Padres in 2023 with five innings pitched in his start. He was traded that season to Pittsburgh and was DFA’d in March of the 2024
season. The Padres traded for Wolf in April of 2024, and he has been in the minor league system, between Double-A and Triple-A.
As one of the NRI this spring, Wolf has not started but has been a reliever for all his appearances and has shown that a funky delivery with a fastball that tops out in the low 90s, with a non-traditional changeup and a slider, can be effective and could be a surprise arm during the season.
Logan Gillaspie
Coming into camp, manager Craig Stammen detailed the role of NRI Logan Gillaspie. He would be stretched out and used as the ‘jack-of-all-trades pitcher for the Friars. The birth of his child interrupted his spring the second week of camp, but he is back to developing in his role. Starter Nick Pivetta has some arm fatigue and is working in the bullpen so his start will be skipped and Gillaspie made the start in his place. In his two games and 3.2 innings before his start, Gillaspie had no runs and one hit allowed.
In his Sunday start, Gillaspie pitched four innings with two hits and no runs, keeping his ERA at 0.00 over 7.2 IP with eight strikeouts. His fastball velocity sat mid-90s with a sinker, slider, sweeper, changeup, curveball and cutter mixed in.
A spot for Gillaspie could be in the mix for a starter if things don’t work out with the options currently competing or if Bryan Hoeing has a significant injury. The reported elbow soreness that he has experienced has motivated him to go outside the organization for more opinions. That is never a good sign and surgery could be an option. If Hoeing is on the IL to start the season, someone else will get a shot at the spot-starter/long-man role. Most likely that would be Gillaspie, Kyle Hart or Ron Marinaccio.
Matt Waldron
Knuckleball pitcher Matt Waldron had a great start to his camp with a back field appearance that showed increased velocity per reports. He appeared in one Cactus League game with a two-inning start on Feb. 21 against the Kansas City Royals. Waldron allowed one hit, one walk and had two strikeouts. Then, after his live BP, manager Craig Stammen reported an “infection in his back side” which was later explained to be surgical treatment for infected hemorrhoids.
Waldron threw a bullpen last week and will be built back up slowly, most likely starting the season on the IL for a second consecutive season. He is out of options so will have to be put on the roster when ready to return or pass through waivers.
Song-Mun Song
Pulled from the 27-6 wind-aided blowout on March 5, Song felt soreness in his previously injured right oblique that slowed his start to learning new positions as well as his adjustment to MLB pitching. Listed day-to-day by the Padres, Song will be slow-played in his return to practice and game action. That might open the door for a player like Ty France or Jose Miranda to make the team, at least until Song is completely able to return.
In past seasons, Mason McCoy would have the best chance to be the infielder off the bench for the Padres but it seems they are entertaining a different option this year. Searching for improved offensive production from the bench seems to be the theme for 2026 and McCoy might not be able to fill that role.
Giving Song a roster spot as well as signing Miranda and France shows that the bat might be just as, or more important for this team.
Yuki Matsui
Another victim of injury, Matsui had to withdraw from the WBC after straining his adductor. Groin strains are notoriously unpredictable and he might start the season on the IL, which could open an opportunity for another reliever to break in with the Friars dominant arms in the ‘pen.
Bradgley Rodriquez, Ron Marinaccio, Alek Jacob and Kyle Hart could be the pitchers on the borderline for the bullpen. Marinaccio has no minor options for 2026.
Jake Cronenworth
AJ Cassavell highlighted this past week the changes that Cronenworth has made during the offseason and during this spring. The opposite field home run he hit in the blowout on March 4 was his first one in his career. Although he drives the ball all over the field, his power has always been on the pull-side.
New hitting coach Steven Souza Jr. sees a road to changing that and we have seen Cronenworth hit with authority this spring. In his 21 at-bats he is hitting .381 with a home run, a double, a triple, two walks and three RBI for a 1.102 OPS.
Griffin Canning
It has become obvious that Canning is being slow-played and will not be available until after the start of the season. He has been seen doing drills in the outfield with coaches and is throwing bullpens on a regular schedule. He will not be doing active fielding drills until cleared by the medical staff. The current thinking will be a return in late April or May, depending on how his achilles responds when he starts working on movement and agility.
Jason Adam
Adam, on the other hand, has repeatedly stated he wants to be available for Opening Day. His manager has been much more coy, refusing to commit to any goal other than to make sure Adam is healthy and strong when he pitches.
To the goal of playing from day one, Adam took part in pitcher-fielding drills this weekend. He had already done all his backfield agility and running work before his PFP was okayed by the staff. This seems to point, with two-and-half-weeks until the season opens, to Adam being a part of the bullpen on March 26.
Owner update
After the report from local sports media that corrected the error made regarding the duo of Joe Kudla and Drew Brees submitting a bid for the Padres, there has been no further information coming out about the ownership change. The bids from the five bidders were in more than a week ago and there could be a second round after some eliminations are made. It still remains possible for the team to be sold by April or May. There was a hypothesis that the rumor regarding Kudla and Brees was due to them expressing an interest in joining one of the other bids for the team.
The Seidler family has shown to be adverse to information being leaked out and we might not know anything else until the deal is done. All Friar Faithful continue to hope that Chairman John Seidler spoke the truth and the Padres will be sold to the party best suited to keep the team competitive and invested in San Diego.
Alex Verdugo
Former Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo was signed by the Padres to a minor league deal after spring camp began. He did not receive an invite to big league camp and is working on the backfields with Padres coaching staff. In 2025, Verdugo played 56 games for the Braves with 197 at-bats and a .239 average and .585 OPS. He will not be 30 until May and still has a lot of baseball left after being DFA’d by Atlanta in July last year. He has not played in any MLB or MiLB lineup since July of last season.
Minor League camp
Minor league camp officially started on March 3 after multiple mini-camps were held over January and February. After camp opened, many of the NRI’s with the Padres were optioned to minor league camp, as well as several Padres prospects.
Padres prospects LHP Jagger Haynes, RHP Ryan Och, RHP Manuel Castro, 1B Romeo Sanabria and RHP Miguel Mendez were also optioned to minor camp. There remain 67 players in Padres camp. Many of the players now seen in later innings of Padres games are minor league players invited to join the team as later inning subs.
